In the TCG Card Shop Simulator on Steam, I can do exactly what I despise in real life. And I can do it without any guilt and with a lot of fun.
Scalpers are causing bad moods in many areas today. They buy products that are available in limited quantities and try to resell them at higher prices. This behavior has been observed for a long time with Pokémon trading cards and has led to Amazon selling such products by invitation only.
Due to these difficulties, I had to find another way to pursue the hobby. That’s when I stumbled upon the TCG Card Shop Simulator. Here I can not only collect cards but also become a scalper myself. But the ones who suffer are not people who want to pursue a hobby, but NPCs. And that makes it a lot of fun.
You can watch the trailer for another TCG game with virtual cards here:
Buying, selling, profit
What captivates me about the game? The goal of the game is to build the ultimate store for trading cards. For this, products must be ordered and sold on the appropriate sales areas after prices have been set.
At the beginning, I bought a few sales areas and started selling simple boosters and displays. While waiting for new customers, I also made sure to open a few boosters myself and build my own collection.
Later, licenses for new products were acquired so that I could constantly expand the range for my customers. Accessories, plush toys, and items from the world of tabletop games gradually found their way into my inventory.
While some customers played against each other at tables, there were the first customers who wanted to sell me their own cards. And that turned out to be highly lucrative. While I was able to acquire the cards for prices far below market value, I subsequently sold them directly again with a markup of 20% above market value. It’s their own fault if the customers are that foolish.
With each sale and every player who played at a table with me, there was more money and new experience points that ensured new shop levels. This allowed me to unlock even more products and furnishings to make the shop bigger and the product selection more diverse.
The importance of a buffer in the game was impressively demonstrated to me in a situation where my greed almost drove me to ruin. After purchasing a card that was very expensive for me at that time for a solid price, I was almost broke. Thanks to ongoing income, I could still refill the stock, but then came the day when the rent had to be paid.
While I kept staring at the sales table with the card that I wanted to sell for €5,500, time went by relentlessly. Nobody wanted the card. And just when I had almost given up hope, there he was: the customer who was once again foolish enough to take the card for an exorbitant price.
The joy I felt in that moment was indescribable. Not only did I successfully sell a card with a huge profit margin again. No. This one customer, who apparently wasn’t very familiar with market prices, literally saved my shop from collapse. And gave me a nice dose of endorphins.
That’s exactly what I love about this game. It’s a constant switch between greed, the danger of insolvency, and the joy of a strategy that always seems to work out in the end.
Over time, it was also time to hire the first employees. They are now responsible for ensuring that the sales areas are stocked with products from the warehouse and for the cash register. After all, I need new money to shamelessly rip off more customers.
Of course, expenses such as rent, electricity, and salaries for the employees must also be planned. But thanks to my loyal customers who continually trust me with their cards, that’s no problem.
Where can I find the game? The game is available on Steam, Xbox Cloud, and PC via Geforce Now and is currently in Early Access. It was released on September 15, 2024, and currently enjoys an impressive rating of 96% positive reviews from 43,919 votes on Steam (as of March 12, 2026, 10:40 AM).
What does the development of the game look like? As mentioned, the game is currently still in Early Access. Accordingly, the game is not finished and is under development. With a playtime of nearly 47 hours, I personally haven’t noticed any major issues or crashes.
A precise date for the full version of the game is not yet known. However, regular updates with new content are being added to the game.
Many fans of trading cards collected Pokémon cards with great joy in their childhood. And many former collectors find their cards again years later. Among them may be real treasures: Player finds a Pokémon card in an old book, for which collectors pay up to €10,000.
